Filed Under Butte

Curtis and Majors Real Estate

Butte National Historic Landmark District

Civil War politics prevented young John H. Curtis from practicing law in Missouri since, as a Confederate sympathizer, he could not take the required oath of allegiance. After the war, Curtis booked passage on the steamer Waverly, arriving at Fort Benton in 1866 with just a few dollars. He built up a substantial Helena grocery business and moved to Butte in 1880. Considered the founder of St. James Hospital, Curtis also brought the first Sisters of Charity to staff it. Admitted to the Montana bar in 1882, Curtis practiced law and went into the real estate business with Green Majors. Curtis & Majors became one of Butte’s most successful early real estate firms, doing business from a frame building on this site during the 1890s. Curtis ran the business alone by 1904. Sons George and John Jr. took over after their father’s death in 1906. The original frame building burned in 1929 and was rebuilt after the Depression circa 1938-1939. The present building housed Curtis Real Estate through the 1950s.

Images

Curtis and Majors Real Estate
Curtis and Majors Real Estate Curtis and Majors Real Estate (PAc 91-51 B1 RollCBD02 F29). Front view of the building, facing north on West Granite Street near the intersection of Hamilton Street. B&W. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office from the Photograph Archives at the Montana Historical Society Creator: Photographer unidentified Date: 1985

Location

35 West Granite Street, Butte, Montana | Private

Metadata

The Montana National Register Sign Program, “Curtis and Majors Real Estate,” Historic Montana, accessed March 28, 2024, https://historicmt.org/items/show/1932.